(Nikon D90, 35mm DX, f/5, 1/50, ISO 640)
Yes, I took another picture of my laptop screen. I stayed in all day so I didn't really have the opportunity to go take pictures of celebrating downtown fans that clogged Yonge street. So, unlike the majority of my posts this will probably be a little more text-heavy.
The Olympics are over. In some ways, I am a bit sad. I love this country. I love it even more having watched the games, and the spontaneous singing of our anthem at both sporting events and on the streets of Vancouver from my house really caught on with me. The daily crowds of red and white, cheers of "Go Canada Go", and other broad spectacles of patriotism that swept through this country was a nice uplifting change to the daily news barrage of crime, poverty, and tragedy. Granted, the beginning 'Games didn't quite hit the ground running; it just hit the ground.
The technical glitches during the Opening Cermonies and the death of the Georgan luger Nodar Kumaritashvili was really not the way to start off a worldwide event. Nor was Canada's slow start, although Alex Bilodeau wasn't kidding when he said that there was more to come, and came it did. Canada literally exploded with gold medals in the last week, finishing it with a climactic overtime win in Men's Hockey. The closing ceremonies were thankfully free of technical glitches, but I personally did not really enjoy the musical performances; most of which were from bands that I thought were long past their prime and didn't really embody the Canadian identity.
Perhaps my one major gripe was the immense flak that the opening and closing cermonies caught from many of my peers. Bad music and technical glitch aisde, I don't think there was really much to be griefing over. If anything, I enjoyed the fact that we opted to NOT take "OMG FIREWORKS EVERYWHERE AND SEIZURE-INDUCING LASER FLASHING LIGHT SHOW PEW PEW PEW LOUD MUSIC PEW PEW PEW PEW". I thought the projections that they put on were a nice and refreshing touch, along with the largely Canadian theme that went with many of the performances. I personally dug the displays of Canadian culture that pretty much permeated much of the ceremonies. Some might disagree or think that it was boring, but I think it was important to show the world who we are as Canadians, or poke fun at what they think we are and that doing so doesn't have to involve pyrotechnics or massive amounts of bass. Besides, what other country is going to have tap-dancers on fire, make folk music sound really awesome, or have Michael J. Fox talk about poutine and back bacon?
I will conclude with some thoughts in six words (in no particular order):
Team Canada: Slow start, great finish, gold hoarding
Alex Bilodeau: First Canadian gold medalist, fortune teller
Curling: Holy shit, what an awesome sport
Joannie Rochette: Perseverence in the face of tragedy
Sidney Crosby: Saves nation from rioting hockey fans
Short Track Speed Skating: Dominated by Asians - Chinese, Koreans, Ohno
Jon Montgomery: Win gold, win pitcher of beer
Charles Hamelin: Mesmerizing beard, skates sideways to gold
Own The Podium: Not quite, owned gold as alternative
Opening Ceremonies: Erectile disfunction, flaming tapdancers, cool lights
Closing Ceremonies: Sorry about the bad music world
Canada Men's Hockey: Cutting it close, don't you think?
Canada Women's Hockey: Drink, smoke, celebrate; You deserved it
John Furlong: Elementary students can speak better French
Norwegian Curling Team: Silver for Curling, Gold for pants
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir: Incredible performance, my mind is blown
Yu-Na Kim: Awesome skate, damn you Brian Orser
Petra Majdič: Breaks ribs, punctures lung, wins bronze
Cypress Mountain: Many spills, but not enough snow
Two-Man Luge: Man on Man? No thank you
Japadog: Long lines, I want one now
I Believe: Overplayed, but made for decent montages
Sven Kramer: Fucked over by coach on lane change
Olympic Mittens: Appears on Oprah, consumers rabidly purchase
No comments:
Post a Comment